One Piece: What if Luffy never met his crew?
CrunchyrollAs the final saga of One Piece continues on Egghead Island, fans have been discussing what may have happened if Luffy never met his crew in the series.
One Piece’s longevity may work against it for new fans; boasting over 1,000 episodes in the anime, it can come across as daunting, though every veteran will say it’s worth the journey, spanning nearly 30 years across the Grand Line.
As the story of One Piece continues, more details and plot points need to match up to keep the series consistent, though fans may consider combining it with the school of thought presented in Marvel’s “What If…?” series as they discuss in depth what would happen if Luffy never met his friends.
One Piece fans discuss if Luffy went with Shanks
On the One Piece subreddit, u/Crimoro presents a simple scenario that comes with a surprising amount of consequences: “What if Shanks decided to take Luffy with him instead of Luffy setting off to create his own?”
All fans know the story of a young Luffy wanting to go with Shanks on his journey, but he finally realized he wasn’t ready after eating the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit – which Shanks his left arm while saving the boy from drowning.
Fellow speculators rushed to the comments to give their two cents on the “What If?” scenario, and some had a bleak prediction for the Straw Hat crew if Luffy never met them. For example, u/hana-hana-no-mi believes many of them would die.
It’s sad but true: Luffy wouldn’t be around to save Zoro from execution, Usopp would die at the hands of Kuro, and Nami would remain under Arlong after he pulls the rug out from under her; as they said, you get the idea. Things would be pretty bad for the gang if Luffy went out to sea with his mentor.
Fans also joked along, pointing out that a young Luffy on board will probably be more trouble than he’s worth. “Shanks would end up losing his other arm,” u/ThatOneLuffy wrote, with others pointing out that in the grand scheme of the story, Luffy under Shanks would be very powerful.
Others think Luffy would eventually leave Shanks’ crew to form his own; he’s dreamed of becoming king of the pirates since childhood, so this is a reasonable train of thought. Fans also cited Pirate King Gol D. Roger causing Shanks to break down in One Piece Chapter 968.
Viz MediaWe’ll need to wait until the story explicitly explains the tidbit with Shanks and Roger, but for now, we can sleep peacefully knowing we live in a reality where Luffy met his friends, saving most of them from a horrible fate, and formed the Straw Hat crew.